Resource Pack 2016 - CaBA · The pack also includes details of more specialist equipment and...

Citizen Science and Volunteer Monitoring

Resource Pack 2016

This guide has been produced by The Rivers Trust with assistance from the Defra & Environment Agency Catchment Partnership Fund and the EU LIFE Programme as part of the WaterLIFE project.

WaterLIFE aims to help local communities engage with River Basin Management Plans and to deliver on-the-ground improvements that support accelerated delivery of the Water Framework Directive.

Find out more about Catchment-Based Approach: www.catchmentbasedapproach.org

Find out more about the WaterLIFE project: waterlife.org.uk

Published May 2016

Cover photos: © Jiri Rezac, WWF UK, Thames21, Keep Britain Tidy.

http://www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/http://waterlife.org.uk/

Citizen Science and Volunteer Monitoring Resource Pack 2016 www.catchmentbasedapproach.org 1

Environmental monitoring by the voluntary sector is fundamental to the success of the Catchment‐Based Approach (CaBA), helping to fill important knowledge gaps and engaging all sectors of society in identifying water management issues, and delivering solutions to protect and enhance the freshwater environment

Many catchment partnerships are developing monitoring programmes, which involve volunteers, members of the public and a wide range of community groups in collecting, reporting and analysing monitoring data. This resource pack seeks to share the experience gained by many of the partnerships by signposting useful guidance, tools, equipment and case studies. The pack also includes details of more specialist equipment and techniques for use by experts, as the most successful monitoring programmes typically combine crowd‐sourced data covering large spatial areas with localised hi‐spec monitoring and modelling.

The resource pack was first published in 2015 and has now been updated for 2016 with additional equipment and case studies. It is also hosted on the CaBA website where it will be updated regularly: www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/volunteer‐monitoring.

If you have something to add or would like to know more… …get in touch: [email protected] …post on the CaBA Forum: www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/discussions …contact the CaBA partnerships: www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/catchment.

Contents Guidance and Useful Links…………………………………………………………………………………….2

Monitoring Equipment………………………………………………………………………………………….3

Mobile Apps and Maps for Data Capture………………………………………………………………13

Case Studies………………………………………………………………………………………………………….29


Guidance and Useful Links

CEH / SEPA ‐ Choosing and Using Citizen Sciencewww.ceh.ac.uk/citizen‐science‐best‐practice‐guide

Excellent guide to help you decide if citizen science is right for you, and the full project report has two water related case studies showing how

the decision tree methodology can be used to plan a monitoring scheme.

UK Environment Observation Framework ‐Citizen Science Guidewww.ukeof.org.uk/documents/guide‐to‐citizen‐science practical guidance on developing citizen science programmes.

The River Restoration Centre ‐ Practical River Restoration Appraisal Guidance for Monitoring Options (PRAGMO)

www.therrc.co.uk/monitoring‐guidance Guidance on monitoring protocols, and how to plan the right things to monitor to

demonstrate success for river restoration projects. Includes monitoring planner template. RRC also run associated training courses – see website for details.

The Rivers Trust ‐ Managing Volunteers and Health & Safety Guidancehttp://www.theriverstrust.org/trust_support/index.htm Information pack for rivers trusts including templates and legal guidance Outdoor Emergency First Aid and River Safety Course http://www.theriverstrust.org/news/index.htm Suitable for volunteer coordinators and monitoring teams. Contact The Rivers Trust for future course dates.

Foundation for Water Research – Community Involvement in UK Catchment Management http://www.fwr.org/Catchment/frr0021.pdf Review of current knowledge with case studies

British Ecological Society – Citizen Science Special Interest Group http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/getting‐involved/special‐interest‐

groups/citizen‐science/

Environment Agency – Volunteer Monitoring Action Plan http://www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/images/PDFS/EA_Action_Plan_Volunteer_Monitoring_October_2012_final.pdf Sets out how the EA intend to support volunteer monitoring

US Environmental Protection Agency – The Volunteer Monitor Project http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/issues.cfm

Newsletter archive for the volunteer monitoring community in the USA


Monitoring Equipment This section contains details of a range of monitoring kit and supplies used by catchment partnerships for monitoring water quality, biology and hydro morphology. This is a representative sample of monitoring equipment spanning a wide range of budgets, from high‐spec kit suitable for experts, right through to single‐use sampling kit and simple dip‐test monitoring approaches suitable for multiple volunteers. However, bear in mind that even basic tests require some training and Q&A to ensure consistency and validity of results. Relative accuracy of water quality kit in particular is something that a number of groups are looking at – we will flag up any published studies on the CaBA forum.

Under each product, the organisations that use it are listed, with comments, contact details and supplier details where known. Equipment is listed in descending purchase price order and a rough indication of cost is provided, where known. Some equipment is single‐use, so bear this in mind when scaling up to catchment‐wide monitoring programmes with multiple volunteers.

Indicative Cost Key:

££££ = Very High (> £3,000)

£££= High (> £1,000)

££ = Med (£100‐£1000)

£ = Low (


Hand Held Pro Plus Series Sonde

For more information, contact: -Matthew.loewenthal@environment‐agency.gov.uk

June.Jones@environment‐agency.gov.uk

EA National Water Quality Instrumentation Service The Environment Agency’s National Water Quality Instrumentation Service (NWQIS) is part of the National Laboratory Service (NLS) and offers a wide range of high resolution monitoring solutions to Agency staff, and are now exploring options for hiring out monitoring kit to Catchment Partnerships. Hand held units provide instant readings of Conductivity/Salinity, Temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen and Ammonium.

Continuous monitoring units return data, in real‐time to any web enabled device and the following range of parameters are available: Conductivity (Derived Salinity), Temperature, pH,

Dissolved Oxygen, Ammonium (Derived Ammonia), Chlorophyll and Turbidity.

Indicative Cost: £££ = High – Med. Available to hire from NWQIS which includes full calibration, tech support and delivery.

Used by: Trent Rivers Trust in partnership with the Environment Agency and University of Nottingham for source apportionment of urban pollution in the Alfreton Brook, Nottinghamshire.

Wet Weather Water Sampling and Lab Analysis Automatic water samplers can be deployed in advance of a heavy rainfall runoff event and can be set to fill a sample bottle at regular intervals –Samples must then be retrieved and couriered rapidly to an accredited laboratory service for analysis, Indicative Cost: £££ = High ‐ Med (If you can hire an auto‐sampler, the main cost is the lab analysis – contact Natlabs.co.uk or local university for pricing)

Used by: Bristol Avon Rivers Trust to identify sediment and nutrient pollution load on the By Brook. http://www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/images/PDFS/BristolAvon/Sediment_and_nutrient_pollution_on_the_Lid_Brook.pdf Aire Rivers Trust used volunteers to manually collect samples which were then sent for analysis to Sheffield University. https://bradfordbeckdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/bradford‐beck‐wq‐appendix.pdf

Real time data output available to any web enabled device

Real Time Monitoring Unit ESNET


INW Smart Sensor – CT2X Measures conductivity, total dissolved solids, and temperature with optional pressure (depth) and various data logging options including real‐time telemetry. Other sensor options available including dissolved oxygen and pH. Indicative Cost: £££ High More info: http://inwusa.com/products/smart‐sensors/

Used by: Westcountry Rivers Trust. Contact Simon Browning ([email protected])

RSHydro Manta 2 Water Quality Sonde Measures conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, turbidity, pH, phosphate, ammonium, nitrate, depth, level and blue green algae. Can be used as an unattended logger, spot sampler or wireless telemetry system with the purchase of additional kit. Indicative Cost: £££ High (Individual sensors range from ££ to ££££, but rental options are available)

More info: http://www.rshydro.co.uk/water‐quality‐monitoring‐equipment/water‐quality‐testing‐equipment/multiparameter‐water‐quality‐sonde/manta‐2‐multi‐parameter‐water‐quality‐sonde/ Used by: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Contact Mike Hutchins ([email protected])

Hach DR900 multi-parameter colorimeter Measures phosphate, total suspended solids, turbidity and colour nitrate ammonia, a number of metals and and numerous other parameters, some of which may involve additional equipment.

Indicative Cost: £££ High (In the region of £1.3k incl. VAT).

More info: http://www.coleparmer.co.uk/Category/Hach_DR_900_Colorimeter/64171

Used by: Westcountry Rivers Trust. Contact Simon Browning ([email protected])

Palintest 7100 multi-parameter Photometer Measures over 50 parameters including phosphate, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, ammonia, calcium hardness, chlorine, nitrate, pH, total hardness and zinc. Tests take ca. 10 minutes Indicative Cost: ££ High (ca £700 + VAT) Reagents required for each parameter measured. (ca. £10 per 50 sachets) More info: http://www.camlab.co.uk/palintest‐7100‐photometer‐p18776.aspx Used by: Trent Rivers Trust. Julie Wozniczka [email protected]


Lovibond MD 600 Photometer Portable multi‐parameter photometer measuring most key WQ parameters (120 methods) including phosphate, total suspended solids, turbidity, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, a number of metals. AquaLX app for iOS and Android allows Bluetooth data transfer to mobile devices. Indicative Cost: ££ Med (ca. £500 for unit, £10‐120 per pack for reagents depending on type – Vacu‐vials are more expensive but reduce error)

More info: http://www.delagua.org/products/details/12651‐Lovibond‐MD600‐MaxiDirect‐Complete‐Photometer

Used by: Action for the River Kennett (contact [email protected])

ChemCatcher Passive pesticide, herbicide and pharmaceutical samplers – being developed and trialled by Portsmouth University, Southwest Water and Westcountry Rivers Trust. Indicative Cost: ££ Med for actual disposables and analysis, but £££ = High for setup costs of housing units.

More info: http://wrt.org.uk/project/passive‐sampling/ Used by: Westcountry Rivers Trust

Hach Pocket Colorimeter (phosphate and more) Calibrated for single parameter – most commonly Orthophosphate, but also available calibrated for dissolved oxygen, nitrate, ammonia, a number of metals and numerous other parameters. Tests take ca. 10 minutes

Indicative Cost: ££ Med (In the region of £500 for Orthophosphate unit). Replacement re‐agent sachets are £ Low cost.

More info: http://www.hach.com/pocket‐colorimeter‐ii‐orthophosphate‐reactive/product?id=7640442984

Used by: Bristol Avon Rivers Trust and Westcountry Rivers Trust. Simon Browning ([email protected])

Hach POCKET PRO+ Handheld multiparameter tester Measures temperature, electrical conductivity, pH and total dissolved solids. Indicative Cost: ££ Med (In the region of £200. More info: http://uk.hach.com/pocket‐pro‐sup‐sup‐handheld‐multi‐parameter‐tester‐2‐for‐field‐analysis/product?id=24929266900&callback=pf Used by: Westcountry Rivers Trust. Simon Browning ([email protected]) says: “I’m very impressed with this device – easy to use and to calibrate, high build quality too.”


Myron Ultrapen PT5 dissolved oxygen tester Fast and simple to use. Indicative Cost: ££ Med (ca. £250). More info: http://www.camlab.co.uk/myron‐l‐ultrapen‐pt5‐dissolved‐oxygen‐tester‐p33525.aspx Used by: Westcountry Rivers Trust. Simon Browning ([email protected]) says: “despite difficulties changing the membrane without trapping air in behind (there seems to be no way to avoid this!) – it does seem to be giving decent results.”

Geopacks Advanced Flowmeter Measures water velocity in units of metres per second or mph and has an inbuilt logger function that allows you to choose between manual logging and auto logging. Readings stored in CSV file that can easily be downloaded to your PC via the mini USB cable provided. Indicative Cost: ££ Med (ca. £200)

More info: http://www.mapmarketing.com/geography‐resources‐fieldwork‐equipment/geopacks‐advanced‐flowmeter_ct302pd224.htm

Used by: Tyne Rivers Trust.

Riverfly Partnership Monitoring Kit Standard size net, trays, bucket, pipettes and guide for invertebrate kick‐sampling. Indicative Cost: ££ Med (ca. £100 per kit plus cost of training). More info: http://www.riverflies.org/armi‐equipment‐list‐and‐suppliers Used by: Hundreds of riverfly monitors working with dozens of Catchment Partnerships http://www.riverflies.org/england

Suppliers: EFE & GB Nets http://efe‐uk.com/product/riverfly‐partnership‐approved‐kit‐2

Geopacks Waterproof Probe Thermometer Handheld digital thermometer, waterproof to IP67 (up to 1m). Range ‐50 ‐ 300 °C; Resolution 0.1 °C; Accuracy ± 0.5 °C. Data hold function and min/max display. Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £85)

More info: http://www.mapmarketing.com/geography‐resources‐fieldwork‐equipment/ip‐67‐waterproof‐folding‐probe‐thermometer_ct302pd1072.htm Used by: Tyne Rivers Trust.


Hanna HI-98300 DIST 1 TDS Tester Measures total dissolved solids with simple calibration function. Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £65) + calibration solution More info: http://www.hannainstruments.co.uk/dist‐r1‐tds‐tester.html Used by: Tyne Rivers Trust

Hanna HI-713 Phosphate Pocket Checker Measures temperature, electrical conductivity, pH and total dissolved solids. Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £50 + VAT, reagent packs ca. £10 + VAT for 25). More info: http://www.hannainstruments.co.uk/pocket‐checker‐for‐phosphate‐testing.html http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/8/review Used by: Waterside Care (Contact [email protected]) and Westcountry Rivers Trust. Simon Browning ([email protected]) says: “I have taken it

out alongside the Hach DR900 – results were generally comparable. It is a little more fiddly as the reagent powder seems finer (more easily wind‐blown!) and the aperture in the test vial is smaller.”

Omega PHH-5012 pH Tester Handheld digital pH meter. Range 0‐14 pH; Resolution 0.02 pH; Accuracy ± 0.01 pH at 25 °C Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £30) More info: http://www.omega.co.uk/pptst/CDH5021.html Used by: Tyne Rivers Trust.

HM Digital EC-3 (EC) Conductivity Meter Handheld digital conductivity meter with built in thermometer. Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £20) More info: https://www.amazon.co.uk/HM‐Digital‐EC‐3‐Conductivity‐Testing/dp/B007GP70UU Used by: Tyne Rivers Trust.

Lovibond CheckIt comparator Portable colorimetric unit with continuous colour scales for more accurate visual assessment of a range of parameters, including phosphate, ammonia, pH, aluminium, iron and copper. Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £40‐60 for compactor + discs + 30 reagents) More info: http://dl.lovibond.com/cat/en/cat_checkitcomparator_pool.pdf

Used by: Action for the River Kennett (contact [email protected])


JBL O2 Oxygen Test Set Simple test for oxygen levels using liquid drops and colour charts for visual assessment. Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £15 for 50 tests). More info: http://charterhouse‐aquatics.com/shop/aquatics/aquarium‐maintenance/jbl‐test‐kits/jbl‐o2‐oxygen‐test‐set Used By: Thames21 (Thames River Watch).

LaMotte Total Coliform Test Kit Simple test for presence/absence of coliform bacteria. Requires incubation at room temperature for 48 hours. Indicative Cost: £ Low (£60 for 44 tests). More info: http://www.lamotte.com/en/education/water‐monitoring/5850.html Used By: Thames21 (Thames River Watch). Suppliers: LaMotte Europe – tel . 01926 498 203

Kyoritsu Chemical Kits (Phosphorus and Nitrate) The phosphate test takes 5 minutes and measures phosphate in the range of 0.02 to 1 mg/l; the nitrate test takes 3 minutes and has a range of 0.2 to 10 mg/l. These kits work well for multiple volunteers across multiple sites. FreshWaterWatch provide these in their WQ monitoring kits which also contain a Secchi tube, gloves, N and P colour charts and user guide and a data recording app and website for volunteers to report and blog about

their results. They also sell N and P tests separately See their website for details. Freshwater Habitats Trust have undertaken extensive lab testing of their effectiveness – results will be published in Nature (Autumn 2015).

Indicative Cost: £ Low (ca. £1 per single use test when purchased in bulk). FreshWaterWatch kits start from £15 – also available in bulk.

Used By: FreshWaterWatch, River Thame Conservation Trust, Wild Oxfordshire, Totally Thames Blitz, Freshwater Habitats Trust.

Suppliers: EarthWatch and River Thame Conservation Trust import these in bulk from Japan. Contact them for pricing. freshwaterwatch.thewaterhub.org http://riverthameconservation.org/


LaMotte TesTabs (Phosphate, Nitrate, Ph, DO + more) Quick and simple dip tests for Phosphate, Nitrate, Ammonia, pH, Dissolved Oxygen/BOD and several other metals and parameters. These low cost tests are suitable for multiple volunteers across multiple sites. LaMotte are keen to support citizen science in the UK as they do in the USA so do contact them for more info. Indicative Cost: £ Low (


Water Quality Monitoring Project Inventory Thames21 and Keep Britain Tidy have kindly provided an inventory of equipment used on their Thames River Watch, Love the Lea and Waterside Care projects with contact details for more information.

Project Name & Organisation Contact

WatersideCare (Keep Britain Tidy) http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/watersidecare/689

Lee Copplestone, WatersideCare Project Officer [email protected] 07918 616907

Thames River Watch (Thames21) www.thames21.org.uk/project/thames‐river‐watch/

Alice Hall, Thames River Watch Programmes Coordinator [email protected] 07554402772

Love the Lea (Thames21) www.thames21.org.uk/project/lovethelea/

Elle Von Benzon, Salmons Brook Healthy River Challenge Project Manager [email protected] 020 7248 7171

Water Quality Monitoring Supplies

Parameter Product name Product Code Supplier Cost per test Information provided by

Ammonia Ammonia test strip packs 27553‐25 Hach Lange £10.60 WatersideCare

Temperature

lollipop thermometer FB502605 11785853 Metlab Supplies Ltd £24.65 ex vat

WatersideCare

Low Toxicity Laboratory Thermometer ‐ 155mm

069309 Consortium £2.69 each

Thames River Watch

pH

4.5‐10ph range test strip packs (100) FB33011 Metlab Supplies Ltd £12.65 WatersideCare

Hanna HI‐009 (III) Pocket pH/Temp meter

Digital Meters (but no longer listed)

£34.00 ex vat

WatersideCare

JBL pH 3.0 ‐ 10.0 Test Set Charterhouse Aquatics

£0.11 Thames River Watch

pH TesTabs LM6459A‐J LaMotte £0.29 Love the Lea

Dissolved Oxygen

JBL O2 Oxygen Test Set Charterhouse Aquatics

£0.28 Thames River Watch

EZ DO Dissolved Oxygen meter 7031 kit Electronic Healing (currently offline May 2016)

£149.00 inc vat

WatersideCare

Turbidity

tube 52.6mmID x 443mm long and poly plug to fit 52.6mmID, natural

CTR52.6G443TTHN and IPP52.6CRN

MOCAP £1.89 Thames River Watch

4.5cm circular matt vinyl Secchi sticker and 2cmx49cm clear vinyl stickers for side of tube

Diginate £1.44 Thames River Watch

Coliform bacteria Total Coliform Test Kit ‐ Recreational Water 5850 LaMotte £2.59 Thames River

Watch

Phosphate

Phosphate TesTabs LM5422A‐J LaMotte £0.33 Love the Lea

Hanna HI‐713 Phosphate Pocket Checker

Hanna £49.85 ex vat

WatersideCare

Hanna HI‐713‐25 reagent Hanna £9.50 ex vat

WatersideCare

Nitrate Nitrate 1 and Nitrate 2 TesTabs LM2799A‐J and LM3703A‐J LaMotte £0.48 Love the Lea


Health and Safety and Ancillary Supplies

Other materials

Product name Product code Supplier Cost per unit

Information provided by

Gloves

Marigolds Gloves (Pack of 12) FL0480 www.FirstAid4Less.co.uk

£6.45 per pack WatersideCare

Marigold G25B Blue Nitrile Gloves – Large 1442100 Arco WatersideCare

Nitrile gloves 1490000 Arco £0.14 Thames River Watch

Safety glasses Uvex i‐vo Safety Spectacles – clear lenses 3U0100 Arco WatersideCare Montana Safety Glasses, clear lens Tudor Environmental £3.37 WatersideCare

Eye wash 12 pack of eyewash tubes Lewis Medical Supplies WatersideCare

Sterile Eyewash Pods 20ml(packs of 25) www.FirstAid4Less.co.uk

£4.75 per pack WatersideCare

Sampling poles

1.2m standard sampling poles (standard handles) HO1 EM Supplies £16.00 WatersideCare

Sampling jars

polythene containers – 500ml HP02 EM Supplies £20.00 WatersideCare pack of 10 specimen containers – 200ml snap lid Azlon Pack 10 Metlab Supplies Ltd £23.44 WatersideCare

500ml wide neck heavy duty bottle 10370025 Fisher Scientific £2.96 Thames River Watch

Containers for test kits

Toolboxes Stanley 16 Robert Dyas and Wickes £6.99 WatersideCare

Toolboxes Stanley 16 (offer) Halfords £7.00 +

vat WatersideCare

Carp Rig System 564 Sporting Wholesale £6.12 Thames River Watch

Handgel pump bottle 500ml Tudor Environmental £4.85 WatersideCare

Pipette 3ml Pipette 350110 Consortium £0.04 Thames River Watch

Stopwatch Value stopwatch 012413 Consortium £3.74 Thames River Watch

Test tube Square plastic 10ml test tube with cap LM0106 Lamotte £4.54 Thames River Watch

Suppliers Supplier name Phone Email Website

Arco www.arco.co.uk Charterhouse Aquatics 0870 850 6138 www.charterhouse‐aquatics.co.uk/home Consortium 0845 330 7780 www.educationsupplies.co.uk Diginate [email protected] Digital Meters www.digital‐meters.com Electronic Healing *Currently offline May 2016* www.electronichealing.co.uk EM Supplies 01300 348088 [email protected] Fisher Scientific 01509 2311166 [email protected] Hach Lange 0161 872 1487 Darren.Metcalfe@hach‐lange.co.uk Hanna www.hannainstruments.co.uk Lamotte 01926 498 203 t.schofield@lamotte‐europe.com www.lamotte.com/en/ Lewis Medical Supplies 0161 480 6797 Metlab Supplies Ltd 01244 526300 www.metlab.co.uk/ MOCAP 01952 670 247 [email protected] Sporting Wholesale 0845 124 2929 www.sportingwholesale.com Tudor Environmental www.tudorenvironmental.co.uk FirstAid4Less www.FirstAid4Less.co.uk


Mobile Apps and Maps for Catchment Data Capture

This review has been prepared by members of the CaBA support team to help CaBA partnerships identify and use mobile apps and maps which are most suited to capturing data and evidence related to catchment management. We’ve included web links for the apps and maps; a summary of what the app or map can be used to record; the intended audience; details of the platforms and formats; online demonstration videos or tutorials if available; information about customisation and updates; how to access the collected data and links to the developer or provider of the app for more information. If you are thinking about embarking on app development do contact us as we may be able to put you in touch with someone who is working on the same thing: [email protected]

INDEX

Crowd Sourcing Apps… PlantTracker 14 RiverObstacles 15 AquaInvaders 16 FreshWaterWatch 17

Self-Customisable Apps… ESRI Collector 18 Snap2Map 19 WildKnowledge 20 EpiCollect+ / RiverEYE 21 FieldTrip GB 22

Bespoke Apps… WiseCAM 23 Cartographer 24 RiverRecorder 25 Riverfly Partnership 26 Natural Access 27

Others to Consider… PDF Maps 28 Indicia / iRecord 28 Fieldscope 28 Defra Field Toolkit 28 Water Science Monitor 28 World Water Monitoring Challenge 28 Hard Copy ID Guides 28


Mobile app and web map for crowd‐sourcing information on invasive non‐native plant species. Version 2 now released and over 15,000 records submitted since 2012.

Theme: Invasive non‐native plant species

Mobile:

Web App: planttracker.org.uk

Demo: youtu.be/94mOQbtw5VI

End User Interface: Aimed at general public as well as specialists. Users are now asked for their level of experience before submitting records. Identification guide includes photos, typical habitat, impacts and spread and users can toggle the option to view confusion species. This version now collects additional information on any treatment which has been applied and also allows submission of Himalayan Balsam Rust fungus spread.

Database and Verification: Data are held in iRecord – the Biological Record Centre’s system which is built on the Indicia platform. Records are verified by the project partners (SEPA, Environment Agency and Nature Locator) and then published. Anyone can view the map of verified reports.

Data Access: Once verified, data are auto‐uploaded to the National Biodiversity Network Gateway data.nbn.org.uk. Users with a registered account can download the data here: data.nbn.org.uk/Datasets/GA001172 (n.b. you need to be logged in to see the Download Dataset link at the bottom of this screen). You can also access information on management and treatment programmes at nonnativespecies.org

Customisation and Updates: The app is not customisable (developer can be contacted below for information on future releases or for bespoke applications.) Future updates and improvements will depend on availability of funding but the app is well used and has already had several updates.

CaBA Partners Also Use: River Recorder and ESRI Collector are used by some groups who prefer to verify records locally. Some Scottish rivers trusts use a system developed by ExeGesIS for accurate mapping of vegetation stands and monitoring management and treatment response.

Developer: naturelocator.org

In partnership with:

Coming Soon


Mobile app and web map for crowd‐sourcing information on natural and man‐made barriers to fish migration such as weirs, sluices, culverts, waterfalls, fallen trees, etc.

Theme: Barriers to fish migration and in‐river obstacles

Mobile:

Web App: www.river‐obstacles.org.uk


End User Interface: Aimed at anglers and hill walkers as well as specialists such as river and fisheries trusts. Users are taken through the assessment step‐by‐step and can record type and size of obstacle, location and photo and also provide an assessment of passability to different fish species if known. ID guides included.

Database and Verification: Data are held in iRecord – the Biological Record Centre’s system which is built on Indicia. Records are verified by the project partners (SEPA, Environment Agency and Nature Locator) and manually checked against existing obstacles datasets. Currently the system only allows submission of new records not editing of existing ones so some work is required to cross‐reference datasets.

Data Access: Organisations who wish to download the information can request an account and are able to download records from the web app.

Customisation and Updates: The app is not customisable (developer can be contacted below for information on future releases or for bespoke applications.) Future updates and improvements will depend on availability of funding.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector and simple PDF or paper maps have been used in the past but the app has only recently been released so is yet to become widely adopted and tested.




aquainvaders Mobile app and web map for reporting and tracking invasive non‐native aquatic species.

Theme: Invasive non‐native aquatic species

Mobile:

Web App: www.brc.ac.uk/aquainvaders


End User Interface: Aimed at anglers, divers and recreational water users as well as specialists. Identification guide includes photos, typical habitat, spread, and confusion species. The app covers 12 species of fish, 5 species of crayfish, 4 species of amphibian as well as Killer Shrimp, Zebra Mussel and Mink.

Database and Verification: Data are held in iRecord – the Biological Record Centre’s system which is build on the Indicia platform. Records are verified by the project partners before publication. Anyone can browse the published records via the website. Currently the system only allows submission of new records not editing of existing ones so some work is required to cross‐reference datasets.

Data Access: Once verified, data are auto‐uploaded to the National Biodiversity Network Gateway data.nbn.org.uk. Users with a registered account can access the data here: data.nbn.org.uk/Datasets/GA001353 (n.b. you need to be logged in to see the Download Dataset link at the bottom of this screen).

Customisation and Updates: The app is not customisable but the developer can be contacted below for information on future releases or for bespoke applications. Low levels of usage so the app hasn’t yet been updated.

CaBA Partners Also Use: No known alternatives for aquatic invasives.




Mobile app for the global EarthWatch programme collecting freshwater quality data

Theme: Water quality

Mobile:

Web App: freshwaterwatch.thewaterhub.org

Demo: youtu.be/IgVIw5ISxGc

End User Interface: Aimed at a global audience, users sign up on the web app and are taken through a training video, followed by a quiz to test their understanding before they can order water quality testing equipment. EarthWatch are currently developing various bespoke options for CaBA partners, including customised web apps with local partner logos and volunteer management. The app asks users to login and then enter information on waterbody type, location, photo, landuse, pollution, flow regime, water colour and water quality readings taken with the sampling kit (Nitrate, Phosphate and Turbidity). Additional parameters and information will be available in future versions of the app which is being developed with various CaBA partners.

Database and Verification: Data are held in an online system which allows users to view their results and those from other users. FreshWaterWatch have a network of scientific partners who provide feedback on what the water quality results mean and ask for double‐checking if anything looks strange. The website allows users to blog about their results and others, and the whole programme encourages users to engage with each other and learn what their results mean in a wider regional, national and global context.

Data Access: There are a number of scientists who have partnered with EarthWatch to access the FreshWaterWatch data for their own research programmes and EarthWatch are keen to widen this network. To discuss your requirements for using the datasets, contact EarthWatch Customisation and Updates: The app as it is published is not user‐customisable, but EarthWatch and Wild Knowledge are keen to work with anyone who would like to develop a bespoke local programme on the FreshWaterWatch platform.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector, WiseCAM.

Developers: wildknowledge.co.uk eu.earthwatch.org

Supported by:


Collector for ArcGIS and ArcGIS Online Customisable platform for mobile and web data capture which can be integrated with ArcGIS Desktop. Ideal for staff or trusted volunteer networks to collect and report data, but not ideally suited to crowd‐sourcing because the app must be connected to an ESRI account. Requires an ESRI ArcGIS Desktop license.

Theme: Can collect any type of spatial data and photos

Mobile:

Web App: www.arcgis.com

Demo: youtu.be/UUcJjPzE7mU

End User Interface: The Collector App can be downloaded for free but must be connected to an ArcGIS Online account in order to capture and upload data. Therefore, this app is best suited for use with networks of trusted volunteers or staff who you can share your ESRI login credentials with.

Database and Verification: Data are stored in the ESRI cloud (or you can upload to your own ArcGIS Server if you have one). An ArcGIS Online Subscription is required – this is available free with an ArcGIS Desktop Non‐Profit license (which currently costs around £100 +vat per year).

Data Access: It is easy to share mapped information with partners via ArcGIS Online as an interactive map or a GIS file which can be downloaded.

Customisation and Updates: Maps and data collection forms are entirely customisable via ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Online and online training and videos are available. App is published by ESRI and is maintained and regularly updated.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Snap2Map, Snap2Data and Survey123 can also be used to collect data and publish photos to an ArcGIS Online map.

Developer: www.esri.com/software/arcgis/collector‐for‐arcgis

Used by:


Snap2Map and ArcGIS Online Simple app for publishing photos taken on smart phone as an ESRI Story Map. Ideal for staff or trusted volunteer networks to collect and share photos on a map, but not ideally suited to crowd‐sourcing because the app must be connected to an ESRI account. Requires an ESRI ArcGIS Online subscription.

Theme: Publishing photos on a map

Mobile:

Web App: www.arcgis.com

Tutorial: youtu.be/UUcJjPzE7mU

Example output: http://arcg.is/1TjfvxM

End User Interface: The Snap2Map App can be downloaded for free but must be connected to an ArcGIS Online account in order to capture and upload photos to a Story Map. Therefore, this app is best suited for use with networks of trusted volunteers or staff who you can share your ESRI login credentials with.

Database and Verification: Data are stored in the ESRI cloud (or you can upload to your own ArcGIS Server if you have one). An ArcGIS Online Subscription is required – this is available free with an ArcGIS Desktop Non‐Profit license (which currently costs around £100 +vat per year).

Data Access: It is easy to share mapped information with partners via ArcGIS Online as an interactive map or a GIS file which can be downloaded.

Customisation and Updates: Maps and data collection forms are entirely customisable via ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Online and online training and videos are available. App is published by ESRI and is maintained and regularly updated.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector app can also be used to publish photos to a map. WildMap from WildKnowledge can be used to create a map‐based audio‐tour with photos, text and interactive content.

Developer: https://marketplace.arcgis.com/listing.html?id=54b4a00a132b4583bd24c37d1c947e1e

Used by:


A set of user‐customisable apps which can be used to support citizen science, education and public engagement. The apps include WildKey (for producing decision tree ID guides) and WildForm (for data gathering). In addition, WildMap and WildImage are customisable interactive multi‐media visitor guides. Below we focus on WildForms but you can find out about the other apps at the Wild Knowledge website. Also see the FreshWaterWatch app review for an example of a bespoke system developed on the WildForms platform.

Theme: Customisable to collect and show any kind of spatial data

Mobile:

Web App: wildknowledge.co.uk

Demo: youtu.be/IgVIw5ISxGc

End User Interface: The WildForm app can be downloaded for free and must be connected to a WildKnowledge account in order to upload data. Administrators can test the forms before publication to ensure that the labels and functions work well. Forms with up to three fields can be published for free.

Database and Verification: Data are stored in an online database which is accessible to the administrator (publisher) of the form to allow data verification.

Data Access: Data can be downloaded as CSV file and captured photos can be automatically uploaded to a Flickr account. Data can also be mapped within the web app using Google Maps.

Customisation and Updates: The free account allows you to publish forms with up to three customised fields. For additional fields you need a subscription account (contact WildKnowledge for pricing). The developer can also create fully customised and branded apps and/or websites.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector and Snap2Map.

Developer: wildknowledge.co.uk

Used by:


RiverEYE RiverEYE is a trial application by Sarah Taigel (University of East Anglia) built on the open source EpiCollect+ platform by Imperial College. RiverEYE has been trialled by River Waveney Trust volunteers to collect information on different issues within the Waveney catchment.

Theme: River Issues (EpiCollect is customisable to collect and show any kind of spatial data)

Mobile:

Web App: epicollectserver.appspot.com

Demo: youtu.be/yzLvgA1A1ms

Example Output: http://plus.epicollect.net/RiverEYE2/RiverEYEReport

End User Interface: The EpiCollect+ app can be downloaded for free and users then search for a project (e.g. RiverEYE2) in order to use the customised form to upload data. The project administrator develops the form using the EpiCollect web interface. Forms can be published for free.

Database and Verification: Data are stored in an online database which is accessible to the administrator (publisher) of the form to allow data verification.

Data Access: Data can be downloaded as CSV file or displayed on a map within the web interface. EpiCollect can also make data available as web services (REST) for integration with other web mapping apps.

Customisation and Updates: The EpiCollect platform is open source, which means that anyone can use and adapt the code. To use or develop the RiverEYE project on the app, contact Sarah Taigel.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector and Snap2Map for recording river issues.

Developer: www.epicollect.net futurelandscapes.wordpress.com

Used by:


FieldTrip GB is a mobile mapping and data capture app designed to support educational field trips and citizen science projects. The app has been developed by EDINA at the University of Edinburgh.

Theme: Entirely user customisable

Mobile:

Web App: fieldtripgb.edina.ac.uk/authoring/

End User Interface: The FieldTrip GB app uses open source data to provide a detailed basemap (including rights of way) which can be downloaded to the app for offline use. Users can capture images, notes, audio recordings and GPS trails straight away without even connecting to a database. Users are required to login via a Dropbox account in order to upload data, and access bespoke forms for data entry.

Database and Verification: Data are stored in Dropbox so users require a Dropbox account (available free of charge). The authoring website allows records to be reviewed, downloaded and managed.

Data Access: Data can be downloaded as CSV, KML or GeoJSON formats, or displayed on a table or map within the web interface.

Customisation and Updates: Contact EDINA

CaBA Partners Also Use: EpiCollect, ESRI Collector and Snap2Map

Developer: edina.ac.uk/

Project partners:


Wireless Sensing Mobile app and web map for gathering water quality data, primarily from remote wireless sensors but also manual measurements.

Theme: Water Quality and Physical Chemistry

Mobile:

Web App: www.wisecam.co.uk

End User Interface: Aimed at rivers trusts and universities who are collecting water quality and physical chemistry data on a regular basis. The app was primarily developed to collect wireless sensor data but users can also choose to input manual water quality readings and download these from the website afterwards. Form has been designed to collect water quality (NO3‐, PO43‐, NH4+, turbidity) and physical (EC, T and P) measurements.

Database and Verification: Data are held in an online database hosted by the developer and currently accessible by the University of Cardiff, University of Bristol and Westcountry Rivers Trust.

Data Access: Organisations who wish to download the information can request an account and are able to download records from the website.

Customisation and Updates: The system is currently being trialled and developed as part of a wider wireless sensing research programme. Future developments may include an online map or iPhone version ‐contact the developer for more information.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector and FreshWaterWatch.




Cartographer Web‐based data management system for entering, managing and displaying environmental data. Cartographer was developed to manage data for the Urban River Survey and has now been adapted to allow Thames21’s Thames River Watch volunteers to enter water quality data and query the results.

Theme: Physical River Quality and Water Quality, but could be adapted to suit any kind of survey

Web App: https://cartographer.io/

Demo: youtu.be/4ZYCtEctvJ4

Example Output: http://www.thames21.org.uk/thames‐river‐watch‐water‐quality http://urbanriversurvey.org/

End User Interface: Cartographer is an integrated system for crowd sourcing data, with web entry forms for volunteers to submit records, a management interface for verifying and analysing data and managing volunteers, and a public map interface to share the results. There is no mobile app but volunteers can enter data via the web form on a smart phone web browser provided they have an internet connection.

Database and Verification: Data are held in an online database hosted by the developer and accessible by the partner organisations and their volunteer surveyors. Verification is undertaken by the partner organisations.

Data Access: Partner organisations and their volunteers are able to download records from the website. Anyone can view the data via the output web maps.

Customisation and Updates: The system would need customisation for rolling out to other partners – contact the developer for more information about options and costs.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ArcGIS Online and FreshWaterWatch.

Developer: untyped.com

Used by: Thames21 and Westcountry Rivers Trust are developing customised versions for managing data


App and web based data management system developed by Norfolk Rivers Trust but customisable for any other catchment.

Theme: River issues, wildlife, invasive species

Mobile:

Web App: norfolkriverstrustapp.org

End User Interface: Developed by Norfolk Rivers Trust for use by their volunteers to report wildlife sightings and river issues such as diffuse or point source pollution and invasive species. Users first select a username and enter an email address to register. Then they select a named river then a type of event and sub‐category. There are ID guides for species and issues, and users can upload a photo.

Database and Verification: Data are held in an online database hosted by the developer and currently accessible by Norfolk Rivers Trust who then verify the data. This web interface could be customised to allow access to different organisations.

Data Access: Anyone can view the data on the website but only the administrator can download the data. Invasive species data are automatically uploaded to the NBN Gateway.

Customisation and Updates: The system is being offered to others to develop and use at cost – contact Norfolk Rivers Trust for more information.

CaBA Partners Also Use: ESRI Collector, PlantTracker, AquaInvaders, FreshWaterWatch.

Developer: www.norfolkriverstrust.org



Riverfly Partnership WebMap Web‐based data management system for entering, managing and displaying Riverfly Partnership invertebrate survey results.

Theme: Invertebrate monitoring

Web App: www.riverflies.org/riverflies‐gis‐home

End User Interface: The Riverfly Partnership system is accessible to volunteers registered with the scheme. Volunteers can enter their latest survey results and view them alongside other national results. Environment Agency staff can set and adjust trigger levels for survey sites and partner organisations can add new users and sites.

Database and Verification: Data are held in an online database hosted by the developer and accessible by the partner organisations and their volunteer surveyors. Verification is undertaken by the partner organisations.

Data Access: Partner organisations and their volunteers are able to download records from the website. Anyone can view the data via the output web maps.

Customisation and Updates: The system will be maintained and updated by the Riverfly Partnership.

CaBA Partners Also Use: Natural Access, Google Maps.

Developer: www.fba.org.uk

Project partners:


Research Data Management Web‐based data management system for entering, managing and displaying environmental data. Natural Access web platform is a standardised framework for research data management that has been customised for Action for the River Kennet (ARK) to manage riverfly survey data.

Theme: Invertebrate monitoring (but customisable to any data theme)

Web App: www.naturalaccess.org.uk

End User Interface: The ARK Research Data Management System is accessible to volunteers registered with Natural Access. Volunteers can enter their latest survey results and data can then be graphically viewed on‐line.

Database and Verification: Data are held in an online database hosted by the developer and are

accessible by approved users. Verification is undertaken by approved validators. A wide range of administration functions are made available to ARK to manage the system and research data.

Data Access: Approved users are able to download records from the website. Data are also available as an offline Excel workbook, updated regularly.

Customisation and Updates: Contact the developer for more information.

CaBA Partners Also Use: Riverfly Partnership WebMap, Google Maps.

Developer: www.naturalaccess.org.uk

Used by:


Others to Consider…. PDF Maps – Wyre Rivers Trust demonstrate how they use the annotation feature of Adobe to annotate PDF maps as a simple solution to capturing line and polygon data in the field: https://youtu.be/C48Br8HRrlI

Indicia / iRecord – Open source biological recording toolkit developed by OPAL and the Biological Records Centre http://www.indicia.org.uk/ Fieldscope – national geographic Citizen Science Mapping toolkit http://education.nationalgeographic.com/programs/fieldscope/

Defra Field Toolkit – developed by ADAS and CEH for ecological targeting of agricultural diffuse pollution mitigation measures, including a mobile mapping and data capture element. Contact ADAS for more information.

Water Science Monitor – Water quality education app from the Concord Consortium in the USA https://concord.org/water‐science/app

World Water Monitoring Challenge – App for android devices and web, to support an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. http://app.monitorwater.org/

Hard Copy Identification Guides Opal (Open Air Laboratory) http://www.opalexplorenature.org/

Field Studies Council http://www.field‐studies‐council.org/publications.aspx GateKeeper http://www.gatekeeperel.co.uk/


Case Studies Some examples from Catchment Partnerships using volunteer monitoring to inform their evidence base. See these and more as we continue to update them on the CaBA website:

http://www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/best‐practice

If you’d like to submit a case study, contact [email protected] or download the project template on the CaBA forum: http://www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/discussions/submitting‐best‐practice‐case‐studies

INDEX Anglers Barrier Assessment 30 Citizen Crane 31 Haltwhistle Burn 32 Love the Lea 33 POLLCURB 34 Pollution Tracing Walkover Surveys 35 The River Starts Here! 36 Developing a Riverfly Hub 37 Riverfly Partnership 38 RiverSearch 39 Shining a Light on Urban Pollution 40 Thames River Watch 41 Totally Thames Water Blitz 42 Urban Pollution Monitoring 43 WatersideCare & RiverCare 44


Barriers to fish migration are a significant management issue within the River Ribble catchment, and not just for fish! After collating several data sets Ribble Rivers Trust have identified 1000+ barriers to migration. But what is classed as a barrier to migration? Ribble Rivers Trust’s definition is ANYTHING that delays or hinders fish migration, adding (Artificially).

For many if a “fish can get over it at certain flows” it is not seen as a barrier, several of Ribble Rivers Trust’s investigation projects have shown that even the smallest of obstacles can be problematic, but they often don’t get the attention they deserve as they are not seen as a priority.

By surveying weirs with anglers the trust hope to raise awareness and knowledge with anglers of the impacts of weirs, whilst collecting vital information that allows more accurate prioritisation of which barriers to address. The project is in its initial stages, and the trust plan to use the River Obstacles app (jointly developed by Environment Agency, SEPA, RAFTS and Nature Locator), alongside some in house training to achieve this.

http://www.ribbletrust.org.uk

http://www.river-obstacles.org.uk

Anglers Barrier Assessments

Ribble Rivers Trust

Ribble Rivers Trust is working with anglers to identify barriers to fish passage. This is helping to improve volunteer and catchment partnership knowledge.


The Citizen Crane project combines RMI surveys of invertebrate health with water quality monitoring for phosphate levels and loadings. A pilot study for outfall monitoring has recently been added to the mix.

The River Crane is a small urban catchment in west London, covering around 120 sq km and running for around 30km from Harrow in NW London to its confluence with the Thames in Isleworth. The river has great potential as an urban green corridor for the half million people living within 10 minutes’ walk but it has also been subject to two major fish kills in the last five years and ongoing chronic pollution. It is classed as poor under WFD criteria and one of the main causes is high levels of phosphate.

Citizen Crane started on the ground in April 2014 following an initial feasibility study. Its purpose has been to develop an improved spatial and temporal understanding of water quality issues, help identify

and reduce pollution problems, and create a volunteer led network of river monitoring teams to provide local community inputs for wider improvement initiatives. Volunteer teams continue to monitor twelve sites on a monthly basis.

A steering group including Thames Water, Environment Agency and Crane Valley partnership links the project into the main decision making bodies in the catchment.

A report on the findings of the first year of monitoring, presenting and analysing the data and highlighting the issues and benefits arising from the programme, has recently been published on the web‐site.

http://www.cranevalley.org.uk/projects/citizen-crane.html

Citizen Crane

FORCE, Zoological Society of London and Frog Environmental (through the Crane Valley Partnership)

A citizen science project on a small west London river combining Riverfly Monitoring Initiative, phosphorus and outfall monitoring.


Using effective engagement techniques, a community‐based monitoring (citizen science) approach has been implemented within the rural 42km2 Haltwhistle Burn Catchment in Northumberland. The Haltwhistle Burn catchment responds rapidly to rainfall, experiencing many flash flood events over recent years and like many small rural catchments in the UK, it does not benefit from any traditional flood defences, flood warning systems or monitoring stations. The Burn is subject to multiple pressures which are exacerbated during high flow, including water quality and sediment issues.

Enthusiastic ‘River Watch’ volunteers are sharing their catchment‐related knowledge and regularly monitoring various catchment parameters in order to understand their water environment. Using training cards and several data collection, submission and visualisation tools, low‐cost monitoring techniques are now being used successfully.

Lengthy flood, rainfall, river level and water quality datasets are now available for this catchment and are shared online with the wider community. The quality

of the observations is being compared to that of data collected using a traditional hydrometric monitoring network. This local information is also being used to improve the performance of catchment models, design runoff management plans and motivate the wider the wider community to be involved in catchment management process.

Other community groups in Northumberland, including ‘Action 4 Acomb’, are also adopting a similar approach within the 14km2 Red Burn Catchment, following Haltwhistle’s success. Although environmental citizen science and the co‐production of knowledge is not a new phenomenon, evolving technology and communications provide timely and low‐cost solutions to mass data collection whilst offering various social benefits.

http://research.ncl.ac.uk/haltwhistleburn/

http://tyneriverstrust.org/what-we-do/community-engagement/riverwatch/

Haltwhistle Burn Citizen Science

Newcastle University in partnership with Tyne Rivers Trust

A community-based monitoring and modelling project in Haltwhistle, Northumberland focussing on river levels and water quality data.


East London’s rivers are some of the most polluted in Britain, running with high levels of e‐coli sewage bacteria, waste water from people’s homes and poisonous oils and chemicals from our roads. This polluted water flows down the Lea Valley past the homes of thousands of people, reducing the quality of the rivers they enjoy. Rivers of the Lea Catchment which fall within the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Haringey, and Enfield are being impacted daily. To address this challenge Thames21 has launched the Love the Lea Campaign.

As an urban waterway the River Lea and its tributaries receive pollution from a variety of sources within the catchment. Right now polluted water enters the Lea through three main avenues: misconnections, road run‐off and sewage overflow.

Thames21 has recognised that one way to stop polluted water from entering a river and take pressure off aging sewers is to create a natural drainage system or SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems). These divert rainwater from roads or car parks onto vegetated green space, so water goes into the ground instead of the drain!

Education and awareness is also a big part of what Thames21 does and we pride ourselves on making sure all our projects in the Lea Catchment include outreach to local schools and communities. Engagement with local communities has found that people simply don’t know what a misconnection is, and most are horrified if they discover they are polluting their local stream. To improve water quality ‘Project Reedbed’ introduces new vegetation into the waterways which breaks down pollutants, and provides habitats for wildlife.

Thames21 also offers training to people to host waterway clean‐ups in their local area or to become a Citizen Scientist and monitor water quality. Thames21 relies on data collected by volunteers to inform projects and campaigns, identifying areas to target.

http://www.thames21.org.uk/love-the-lea

Love the Lea

Thames 21

East London's rivers are some of the most polluted in Britain. Love the Lea is a campaign set up to change this, through information and practical action.


Funded under the NERC Changing Water Cycle programme the project POLLCURB is investigating how water pollution relates to change in urban areas, in particular that brought about population growth. The results of the project will provide valuable predictions of future water resources to help inform decision‐making.

Since May 2014 CEH scientists working on POLLCURB have teamed up with EarthWatch (http://www.earthwatch.org) to train citizen scientists in carrying out water quality monitoring. The collaboration has come about via EarthWatch’s FreshwaterWatch (https://freshwaterwatch.thewaterhub.org/projects) programme, which aims to study fresh water quality around the globe by engaging employees from participating organisations as citizen scientists.

POLLCURB is collaborating with the EarthWatch programme by training citizen scientists, in this case employees from Shell and Saudi Aramco, to monitor water quality in the river Thames and two of its tributaries, the Mole and Ember, using a handheld multiparameter probe. Training sessions for groups of

10‐15 citizen scientists take place every 6 months after which the newly‐trained team undertakes monitoring visits on a regular basis. The programme will run for 4 years.

The participants collect data on temperature, turbidity, organic matter, algae and oxygen levels, producing a monthly dataset for each location. These data will specifically enable further testing of POLLCURB models, and will also add value to Environment Agency monitoring programmes. Environment Agency staff have been involved in the choice of sites that the citizen scientists are monitoring. As well as collecting data for POLLCURB, participants are also carrying out the Freshwater Watch programme of measurements at each of the sites which includes collection of data on nutrient levels. To date the monitoring is helping quantify the impact of weirs on water quality and also illustrating differences between rivers with contrasting levels of point source pollution. Marked differences between water quality in 2014 and 2015 have been revealed.

http://www.pollcurb.ceh.ac.uk/

POLLCURB

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology & EarthWatch

Urbanisation and water security in the Thames basin.


The exact methodologies involved vary, but they all involve walking along watercourses (usually in wet weather), looking for sediment or other pollution entering the watercourse and tracing it back to its source in the landscape.

Once sources of pollution have been identified, interventions can be delivered to mitigate them or disconnect the pollution pathway carrying pollutants to the watercourse.

It is important to note that these surveys give a very quick snap‐shot of the situation in a catchment (which by their nature are highly transient) and solutions must be enacted quickly to ensure success.

Perhaps the most extensive surveys of this kind have been undertaken by APEM on behalf of the Environment Agency. The APEM methodology has now been used by them and others to assess over

14,000km of river in the UK and they now offer training in the application of this method. APEM have recently developed the approach to identify diffuse urban pollution and have worked in partnership with Healthy Waterways Trust to apply the approach.

In addition, a number of other groups have developed their own versions of this approach to river corridor assessment.

http://www.apemltd.co.uk/field-surveys

http://www.yorkshiredalesriverstrust.com

http://www.ribbletrust.org.uk

http://www.healthywaterwaystrust.org.uk

http://www.severnriverstrust.com

Pollution Tracing Walkover Surveys

Various partners (including APEM, Environment Agency and Rivers Trusts)

Several organisations have now developed walk-over survey methodologies for locating sediment pollution in river catchments.


The River Starts Here! will improve two of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire’s most polluted and degraded river tributaries – Alfreton Brook and Oakerthorpe Brook, which flow through the former coal mining area spanning Huthwaite, South Normanton and Alfreton into the River Amber. By taking action at the source, initially over 18 months, we aim to involve people and begin to influence opinion, attitudes and behaviour along 15km of watercourse, just as much as we aim to improve the water quality and wildlife of the brooks themselves. Our best practice at the start of the river will raise people’s pride, their connections with and their positive impact on their local watercourses (which currently often attract anti‐social behaviour) and set an example for work to continue downstream. We will use data to target work where action can have the greatest impact and our budding network of community groups and businesses to guide us to the best opportunities to involve a wide range of people.

Trent Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency have deployed nine water quality monitoring sondes on Alfreton Brook, testing water quality every 30 minutes for 2 months. Environment Agency colleagues are analysing and reporting on the data and the findings

are being used to focus engagement with businesses and community and capital works, and for further research with Nottingham University under a project called ‘The River Starts Here!’

The partnership set monitoring objectives within an overall monitoring strategy. These are to build up a detailed picture of the water quality in these brooks, building on available information, in order to:

Determine the nature and causes of pollution Demonstrate change Engage stakeholders

The team are also wet weather spot‐sampling at eight locations on Oakerthorpe Brook, with samples being analysed in the laboratory for a wide range of substances including metals. The data are being stored on the Environment Agency’s WQ database and the analysis undertaken in partnership to inform remedial action.

http://www.trentriverstrust.org/

The River Starts Here!

Trent Rivers Trust in partnership with The Environment Agency

Improving polluted urban rivers with better evidence and community engagement.


The Angler’s Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) is already used widely in the UK as a 'neighbourhood watch' for rivers, practiced by anglers, environmentalists and community groups. It has proven effective in identifying pollution incidents and ensuring action is taken.

Until recently, the main limitation hindering the roll out of ARMI across the UK has been the lack of training opportunities. The Riverfly Partnership has sought to address this bottleneck through supporting the development of riverfly hubs.

The Chilterns, Hertfordshire & Middlesex Riverfly Hub is a partnership, set up in 2014 to provide ARMI training to anyone wishing to monitor the health of rivers in the Upper Lea, Colne and South Chilterns catchments (3,217km2 including 34 major rivers). Jointly led by the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project and Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust, the Hub coordinates ARMI across the area with the ultimate aim of setting up and supporting riverfly monitoring on every river in the hub area.

Through a variety of sources, the hub was able to obtain £12K funding to support the hub’s set up and

operation in the first year. To date the hub has trained over 120 new monitors and is supporting ARMI groups on 14 rivers in the hub area. Most recently the hub has trained volunteers who will be monitoring Catchment Partnership Action Funded river restoration projects being delivered in the Colne catchment this year. The hub has also helped establish new ARMI groups in neighbouring catchments (Thame and Ray) and is currently assisting Thames21 to set up a riverfly hub for the London Lea catchment.

The hub is able to provide training for volunteers through an annual programme of training workshops run by its five Riverfly Partnership accredited ARMI instructors.

http://www.colnecan.org.uk/index.php/riverfly-monitoring

http://www.riverchessassociation.co.uk/fly-monitoring.html

http://www.misbourneriveraction.org/node/40

The Chilterns, Hertfordshire & Middlesex Riverfly Hub is a partnership, set up in 2014 to develop and support the Anglers’ Riverfly Monitoring Initiative across the Upper Lea, Colne and South Chilterns catchments.

Developing a Riverfly Hub

Chilterns Chalk Streams Project and various partners


The Riverfly Partnership interest focuses on three key groups of riverflies: the up‐wing flies or mayflies (Ephemeroptera), caddisflies or sedges (Trichoptera) and stoneflies (Plecoptera) in whatever habitats they occur (rivers and still waters).

Riverflies (and other freshwater invertebrates) are at the heart of the freshwater ecosystem and are a vital link in the aquatic food chain. Riverfly populations are affected by many factors, predominately water quality, habitat diversity, water level and flow rate. Their common characteristics of limited mobility, relatively long life cycle, presence throughout the year and specific tolerances to changes in environmental conditions make them powerful biological indicators to monitor water quality, and are commonly referred to as ‘the canary of our rivers.’

The Riverfly Partnership spearheads an initiative to allow interested groups to take action that will help conserve the river environment. This initiative provides a simple monitoring technique which groups

can use to detect any severe perturbations in river water quality and puts them in direct communication with the local Ecological Contact of the EA, SEPA, NRW or NIEA.

The monitoring scheme, used alongside the routine monitoring of these organisations ensures that water quality is checked more widely and action taken at the earliest opportunity if any problem is detected. Successful schemes are underway within catchments in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Organisations interested in joining the initiative must have an individual prepared to act as a local coordinator and have members attend an official one‐day Riverfly Partnership workshop, run by an accredited Riverfly Partnership Tutor. The training workshop includes presentations and practical demonstrations.

http://www.riverflies.org

Riverfly Partnership

Various Partners

The Riverfly Partnership is a network of nearly 100 partner organisations, representing anglers, conservationists, entomologists, scientists, water course managers and relevant authorities, working together to: protect the water quality of our rivers; further the understanding of riverfly populations, and actively conserve riverfly habitats.


RiverSearch is a citizen Science project coordinated by Surrey Wildlife Trust on behalf of the River Wey Landscape Partnership and the River Mole Catchment Partnership. The project which began in June 2013 provides a catchment wide monitoring programme which feeds back to the partnership steering groups as well as reporting issues immediately to the Environment Agency.

Volunteers monitor roughly a 1km stretch of river and are trained to look for incidences of pollution, potential pollution pathways, barriers to fish passage and record the extent of non‐native invasive species. As part of the survey volunteers map and photograph the ecological characteristics of the river through a simplified river habitat survey. This allows for identification of opportunity areas that can be cross referenced with WFD failures for that particular water body

With now over 80 active volunteers the focus has been on creating local area groups who not only carry out monitoring but actively get involved in river restoration days. When a new volunteer is trained

they are put in touch with other volunteers in the area to increase their level of engagement.

In 2014 RiverSearch volunteers began using the Riverfly partnership methodology to monitor water quality and this led to the creation of a number of local river groups. These groups have been a hub for local volunteers who also carry out phosphate testing on each monthly survey. Using Riverfly and phosphate testing together has already allowed groups to successfully isolate 2 pollution incidents to particular outfalls.

In 2015 volunteers have been helping us to collect baseline data before restoration works are carried out as part of the catchment partnership action fund projects. They will be active in delivering those projects as well as carrying out monitoring afterwards to.

http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/what-we-do/living-landscapes/conservation-projects/riversearch

RiverSearch

Surrey Wildlife Trust

RiverSearch is a monitoring and restoration project which trains volunteers to carry out walkover surveys, habitat surveys, water quality sampling and kick sampling. Coordinated by Surrey Wildlife Trust RiverSearch is working to create vibrant, ecologically rich rivers in Surrey that local communities understand and can engage with.


The purpose of this project is to improve the quality of urban rivers in the Bradford Metropolitan district (West Yorkshire) by working with local com

Resource Pack 2016 - CaBA · The pack also includes details of more specialist equipment and...

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